Suction cleaner nozzle construction for cleaning cotton rugs



July 7, 1959 E. F. MARTINEC .SUCTION CLEANER NOZZLE CONSTRUCTION 'FOR CLEANING COTTON RUGS Filed April 21, 1955 NVENTOR EUGENE F. MARTINEC BY l I m@ E11@ ATTORN EYS United States Patent firce SUCTION CLEANER NOZZLE CONSTRUCTION FOR CLEANING COTTON RUGS Eugene F. Martinec, East Cleveland, Ohio, assignmto Health-Mor, Inc., Chicago, .111., a corporation of Illinois Application April 21, 1955, Serial No. 502,968

4 claims. (cl. 1s422) This invention relates to suction cleaners and more particularly itpertains to an attachment for cleaning rugs having a shaggy nap, such as cotton shag rugs.

All Isuction cleaners rely upon high suction to do cleaning. Attachments and nozzles for tank-type suction cleaners are commonly used in a home for cleaning rugs. Ordinarily, a nozzle is moved over the surface of the rug with comparative ease. Most rugs have suicient body to resist excessive arching of the rug into the nozzle caused by suction in the nozzle.

However, some rugs, such as cotton shag rugs, do not possess sulicient body to prevent the material from arching easily into the nozzle of a suction cleaner. As a result, the rug is drawn an excessive distance into the nozzle, creatingr greater resistance and making itdiflicult, if not impossible, to slide the nozzle over thev rug.

Moreover, most nozzles for cleaning rugs include a brush that agitates dirt loose from rug surface. With shag rugs such a brush is useless because it merely increases the resistance to movement of the nozzle over the rug.

Various devices have been proposed to overcome the problem of cleaning shag rugs. One proposal includes the use of an attachment for the nozzle consisting of a bar rigidly mounted at a spaced distance from the mouth of the nozzle to Ihold the nozzle spaced from the rug to prevent an arch from forming. This reduces eliciency by eliminating an air seal between the nozzle and the rug. Other proposals include an attachment which ts into the mouth of the nozzle to reduce its effective length and, therefore, its eiiiciency. Still other proposals are composed of variations of the foregoing proposals. The disadvantage of all such proposals is that the eliciency of the attachment is reduced substantially because either the size of the nozzle is minimized or the suction in the nozzle is greatly reduced by by-passing a portion of air into the nozzle.

The device of the present invention overcomes these problems and disadvantages without creating new ones. It provides greater contact surface forholdiiig the rug atter when subjected to the suction in the nozzle. The device is a rigid sheet member having an opening align-v able with the open mouth of the nozzle. The device has upturned inclined front and rear anges to enhance movement'over a rug surface. In addition, the device may be used with a nozzle brush in operation, because it is provided with opening means that permit lowering of the brush into the position for use.

Further, the device may be used in combination with a felt pad for cleaning or polishing walls and oors, as well as serving as a door duster.

Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention to provide an attachment for the nozzle of a suction cleaner for cleaning rugs khaving insufficient body to res-ist undue arching into the nozzle under ordinary suction developed therein.

It is another object of this invention to provide a rug Patented July 7, 1959 shoe for a suction cleaner nozzle for the cleaning of cotton shag rugs.

It is another object of this invention to provide a rug shoe for a suction cleaner nozzle which prevents an excessive amount of the rug being sucked into the nozzle.

It is another object of this invention to provide a rug shoe for a suction cleaner nozzle which permits easy movement of the nozzle over the surface of a shag rug thereby facilitating the cleaning thereof.

It is another object of this invention to provide a rug shoe for a suction cleaner nozzle which does not substantially reduce the size of the mouth of the nozzle.

It is another object of this invention to provide a rug shoe for a suction cleaner nozzle which does not reduce the amount of elfective suction created in the nozzle.

Y It is another object of this invention to provide a rug shoe for a suction cleaner nozzle which may be usedin cooperation with the conventional brush attached to the rug cleaning nozzle.

Itis another object of this invention to provide a cleaning pad for a rug shoe for a suction cleaner nozzle, which pad may be used for cleaning, dusting or polishing walls or floors.

Further, it is an object of this invention toi provide an inexpensive rug shoe that incorporates all of the foregoing advantages and eliminates the difficulties experienced with prior attachments for cleaning shag rugs.

These and others objects and advantages apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description and claims may be obtained, the stated results achieved and the described dilicultes overcome by the discoveries, principles, apparatus, parts, combinations, subcombinations, and elements which comprise the present invention, the nature of which is set forth in the following statement, the preferred embodiment of which-illustrative of the best mode in which applicant has contemplated applying the principles--is set forth in the following description, and which is particularly and distinctly pointed out and set forth in the appended claims forming part hereof. p

The nature of the device of the present invention may be stated in general terms as including, an elongated, sheet-like, rigid member having a width greater than that of a suction cleaner nozzle to which it is attached, the member having upwardly inclined front and rear edges to facilitate backward and forward gliding of the attachment over a rug surface, the member having at least one elongated opening alignable with the mouth of the nozzle in order to provide an undiminished entry for air into the nozzle, clamp means for detachably securing the member to the nozzle, and the member having an elongated brush-receiving aperture to permit the uSe of a brush on the nozzle, if desired.

Referring to the accompanying drawing which illustrates the preferred embodiment of the invention by Way of example, and in which similar numerals refer to similar parts; throughout the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cleaning tool nozzle for a suction cleaner, showing the rug shoe attached thereto;

Fig. 2 is a plan view, partly broken away, of the rug shoe;

Fig. 3 is a bottom View of the -rug shoe showing the manner in which it is mounted over the mouth of a suction cleaner nozzle;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the nozzle without the rug shoe attached, showing the manner in which a shag rug is arched into thevmouth of the nozzle;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view, taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 1, with the rug shoe attached, showing the manner in which the rug shoe functions to prevent excessive arching of a shag rug into the mouth of the nozzle;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the felt pad attachment;

Fig. 7 isa vertical sectional viewsimilar to that of Fig. 5 and including in addition the felt pad attached to the rug shoe; and Y Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view taken on'the line 8 8 of Fig. 2.

In the several views of the drawing, the rug shoe, generally indicated at 1, is shown attached to a nozzle 2 of a suction cleaning attachment for a suction cleaner. The nozzle 2 includes a tubular portion 3 by which the nozzle is detachably connected to a tubular conduit 4, the upper end of which is connected -to a flexible hose 5 leading to a source of suction in the usual manner. The tubular portion 3 of the nozzle 2 is attached telescopically within a sleeve 6 at the lower end of the conduit 4.

The nozzle 2 includes a iiared portion 7 extending downwardly from both sides of the tubular portion 3. At the lower end the iiared portion 7 terminates at a pair of spaced lip portions 8 and 9 between which is a nozzle mouth 7a. As shown in Fig. 4 the lip portions extend in opposite directions, the lip portion 8 extending outwardly to the front of the nozzle 2 and the lip portion 9 extending to the rear thereof. The undersurfaces of the lip portions 8 and 9 are arcuate, rug-contact surfaces of the nozzle 2, which enable back and forth movement over a rug.

In addition, the ared portion 7 includes end walls 10 between opposite ends of the lip portions 8 and 9. The end walls 10 together with the lip portions 8 and 9 constitute the limits of the mouth 7a. In each end wall 10 is a groove 11 (Fig. 7) that extends between the mouth 7a and the exterior of the nozzle 2. The grooves 11 are relatively shallow and are used to provide high-velocity air currents into the mouth 7a for cleaning surfaces, such as rugs, adjacent a wall baseboard.

On the exterior side of the rear lip portion 9 is a pair of spaced lugs 9a (Fig. 7) which are engaged by a pair of spring clips in a manner to be described below.

Above the rear lip portion 9 is a brush 12 with bristles 12a that is substantially coextensive with the width of the rear wall of the nozzle 2. The brush 12 may be used in the lowered position with the nozzle 2, as shown in Fig. 5, or retained in an elevated position (Fig. 4) when not in use. The brush 12 may be mounted on the nozzle 2 in a manner similar to that shown in Patent No. 2,199,643.

In Figs. 2, 3, and 5, is shown the rug shoe 1. It is an elongated sheet of rigid material, preferably sheet or plate metal. The rug shoe 1 includes upwardly inclined flange portions 13 and 14 across the front and rear respectively. The front flange portion 13 also includes an inclined portion 15, which extends backwardly, forming a rounded front corner 16 with the inclined portion 13. The flange portions 13 and 14 -enable the shoe to be moved more easily back and forth over a rug.

The shoe 1 has an elongated central flat body portion which is provided with an elongated opening 17 extending parallel to the front and rear edges. Additional openings 18 and 19 are provided at opposite ends of the opening 17. The openings 17, 18 and 19 extend over the greater portion of the length of the shoe and are alignable with the mouth 7a of the nozzle 2 whenthe shoe is attached (Fig. 3). As shown in Fig. 5 at 20 the back edge of each opening 17, 18 and 19 is inclined upwardly slightly to facilitate sliding the Shoe 1 over a rug. The openings 18 and 19 are separated from the opening 17 by flat shoe surfaces 18a and 19a, respectively, which surfaces together with the flat Vsurfaces around the openings prevent a rug from excessively entering the nozzle 2 due to suction.

At each end` of the'shoe 1 is an upright flange 21 extending betweenrthe inclined flange portions 13 and 14. Also, the rug shoe is provided with upwardly convex embossments or channels 22 and 23 that extend outwardly from the ends of theopenings 18 and 19, respectively, and through the flanges 21. When the shoe is attached to the nozzle, the openings 17, 18 and 19 are aligned with the mouth 7a with the inclined edges 20 extending slightly into the mouth. Further, the embossments 22 and 23 ft into the grooves 11 in end walls 10 of the nozzle 2 and the anges 21 engage the ends of the nozzle to prevent lateral shifting of the shoe 1 with respect to the nozzle.

Between the openings 17, 18, and 19 and the inclined ange portion 14 are brush-receiving openings 24 which may comprise one or more openings separated by shoe surface portions 24a' (Fig. 2). The openings 24 are aligned with the brush 12 and permit lowering of the brush into position for use when desirable.

As shown in Fig. 5, the elongated central flat portion of the plate `member shoe has a width substantially the same as the width of the bottom lip surfaces of the nozzle between the front and rear edges of the front and rear lips 8 and 9. This central at shoe portion is offset with respect to the width of the nozzle as shown in Fig. 5 so as to enable the brush-receiving openings 24 to be located behind the rear nozzle lip 9 so that the brush may be used when the shoe is attached to the nozzle.

The inclined, elongated front flange portion 13, as shown in Figs. 5 and 8, extends forwardly upwardly from the front of the central flat portion of the shoe, and the elongated inclined rear flange portion 14 extends rearwardly upwardly from the rear of the central ilat portion of the shoe. As shown in Figs. 3 and 5, the front at portion and rear portion of the shoe 1 each are parallel with the longitudinal axis of the nozzle mouth opening and the front flange portion 13 extends to a zone spaced forwardly beyond the front edge of the front nozzle lip 8 when the shoe is attached to the nozzle. As indicated, so as to locate the brush openings 24 in the rear of the nozzle lip 9, the rear ilange portion 14 is spaced rearwardly of the rear nozzle lip 9.

The shoe 1 is provided with clamping means by which it may be detachably secured to the undersurface of the nozzle 2. The clamping means includes a pair of inturned iianged clips 25 and 26 in the inclined edge 13, and a pair of spring clips 27 and 28 attached to the surface of the shoe 1 in a conventional manner such as by rivets 29. The clips 25 and 26 engage the front lip portion 8 of the nozzle 2 and the spring clips 27 and 28 engage the spaced lugs 9a, as shown in Fig. 7. Upon attachment the front lip portion 8 is iirst inserted into engagement with the clips 25 and 26 after which the nozzle 2 is pressed against the shoe 1, forcing the spring clips 27 and 28 to snap into position around the lugs 9a.

When the nozzle 2 is used on a shag rug 30 without the shoe 1 attached thereto, the rug is drawn excessively into the mouth of the nozzle 2 by suction created therein, as shown in Fig. 4, thereby creating resistance to movement of the nozzle over the rug 30. For this reason the brush 12 is ordinarily retained in the upper position (Fig. 4) out of contact with the rug. To permit the brush bristles 12a to engage the rug 30 would only add to the difficulty of moving the nozzle 2.

With the rug shoe 1 attached to the nozzle 2, as shown in Fig. 5, the lat bottom surface portion of the shoe provides area surrounding the openings 17, 18, and 19 to hold the rug 30 flat, thereby preventing the mg from excessively arching and entering the mouth 7a. In this manner, the nozzle 2 with the shoe attached may be easily moved over the rug 3) without minimizing either the suction created in the mouth 7a of the nozzle 2, or substantially reducing the total effective area of the mouth. y

AThe effectiveness of the rug -shoe 1 is such that in I addition to providing the proper suction for cleaning theV rug 30 the brush 12 may be lowered to engage ahe tufts or nap of the rug to provide agitation for more complete cleaning'results. Moreover, the assembly of the shoe 1 and the nozzle 2 may be used with undiminished effect to clean the edge of a rug n ear a wall or baseboard with shoe enrbossm'en'tZZ or 23 fitting the grooves 11.

In addition to the foregoing, the rug shoe 1 may be provided with a felt pad 31 (Fig. 6) having aligned openings 32 which are registrable with the openings 17, 18 and 19 in the shoe. Moreover, the felt pad 31 is provided with edge channel clips 33 and 34 which are enggeablewith the edges of the inclined flanges 15 and 13, respectively, lof the shoe 1. A pad 31 may be used for dusting and Cleaning floors and walls.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a new attachment for cleaning shag. rugs with a suction cleaner which is easily attached and detached to the nozzle, which is inexpensive in construction, which has a neat appearance, which provides a greater surface contact with the rug around the suction opening to prevent excessive entry of the rug into the nozzle, and which incorporates the new and advantageous features herein described, overcomes the prior art difficulties indicated, and solves long standing desiderata.

Certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness and understanding; but no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirements of the prior art, because such terms are utilized for descriptive purposes herein and not for the purpose of limitation and are intended to be broadly construed.

Moreover, the description of the improvements is by way of example, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the exact details illustrated and described.

Having now described the features, discoveries, and principles of the invention, the characteristics of the detachable rug shoe, and the advantageous, new and useful discoveries, principles, parts, elements, combinations, subcombinations, structures, and arrangements and mechanical equivalents obvious to those skilled in the art, are set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Suction cleaner cotton rug nozzle construction including walls forming an elongated nozzle terminating in front and rear parallel lips forming an elongated mouth opening therebetween, the lips having bottom surfaces engageable with a rug to be cleaned by the nozzle; a plate member detachably mounted on the nozzle, the plate member including an elongated central at portion having a width substantially the same as and oiset from the width of the bottom lip surfaces of the nozzle between the front and rear edges of the front and rear lips, an elongated front llange portion extending forwardly upwardly from the front of the llat portion and being connected with the flat plate portion at a corner spaced rearwardly from the front edge of the front lip, an elongated rear ange portion extending rearwardly upwardly from the rear of the flat portion; the front, at and rear plate portions being parallel with the longitudinal axis of the nozzle mouth opening; the front ange portion extending to a zone spaced forwardly beyond the front edge of the front nozzle lip; the rear ange portion being spaced rearwardly of the rear nozzle lip and being connected with the iiat plate portion at a second corner spaced from the rear edge of the rear nozzle lip; there being elongated opening means formed in the at plate portion, said opening means being aligned with the nozzle mouth when the plate member is attached to the nozzle; clamp means on the plate member detachably securing the plate member to the nozzle including rigid clip means engageable with the front lip and spring clip means yieldingly engageable with the rear lip, the nozzle having grooves in the opposite end walls between the front and rear lips, the central iiat portion of the plate member having an upwardly convex embossment extending from each end of the elongated opening means to the outer edge of the portion, and the embossments being registrable with the grooves in the end walls of the nozzle.

2. The construction as dened in claim 1 in which the central at portion has an upwardly inclined ilange at each end extending between the front and rear ange portions.

3. Suction cleaner cotton rug nozzle construction including walls forming an elongated nozzle terminating in front and rear parallel lips forming an elongated mouth opening therebetween, the lips having bottom surfaces engageable with a rug to be cleaned 4by the nozzle; a plate member detachably mounted on the nozzle, the plate member including an elongated central at portion having a width substantially the same as and otset from the Width of the bottom lip surfaces of the nozzle between the front and rear edges of the front and rear lips, an elongated front flange portion extending forwardly upwardly from the front of the iiat portion and being connected with the flat plate portion at a corner spaced rearwardly from the front edge of the front lip, an elongated rear flange portion extending rearwardly upwardly from the rear of the llat portion; the front, iiat and rear plate portions being parallel with the longitudinal axis of the nozzle mouth opening; the front liange portion extending to a zone spaced forwardly beyond the front edge of the front nozzle lip; the rear flange portion being spaced rearwardly of the rear nozzle lip and being connected with the ilat plate portion at a second corner spaced from the rear edge of the rear nozzle lip; there being elongated opening means formed in the flat plate portion, said opening means being aligned with the nozzle mouth when the plate member is attached to the nozzle; clamp means on the plate member detachably securing the plate member to the nozzle including rigid clip means engageable with the front lip and spring clip means yieldingly engageable with the rear lip, the nozzle also being provided with a brush adjacent and to the rear of the rear lip, and the central flat portion also having elongated brush-receiving opening means registrable with the brush and located to the rear of the rear nozzle lip when the plate member is attached to the nozzle.

4. The construction as detned in claim 3 in which the elongated front ilange portion has a backwardly upwardly inclined portion extending above and spaced from the front lip and forming a rounded front corner therewith.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,068,713 Thurman July 29, 1913 1,713,274 Fitzgerald May 14, 1929 1,869,157 Lang July 26, 1932 1,902,561 Kuhnel et al Mar. 21, 1933 1,994,616 Leitzell Mar. 19, 1935 2,219,810 Foss Oct. 29, 1940 2,682,682 Lewyt July 6, 1954 2,728,933 Pieper et al Jan. 3, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 22,700 France Aug. 4, 1921 135,065 Sweden Apr. 1, 1951 241,200 Switzerland July 1, 1946 291,790 Great Britain Aug. 23, 1928 360,741 Great Britain Nov. 12, 1931 665,245 Germany Sept. 20, 1938 850,321 France Sept. 11, 1939 1,070,322 France Feb. 17, 1954 

